Sirion m100 daily build

[Oropi_dai]

So my Sirion finally arrived last night and I got my first chance to gaze upon its awesome goodness.

First thoughts are darn it’s small. I have been driving around in my wife’s lifted jackaroo the last two weeks, so getting down into this was a great feeling being so low to the ground, all though the seat is quite high.(we will fix that later)

After reading though all the posts and information on this site I have decided to change direction with this build a bit. I want to build a well sorted, reliable, fuel sipping, enjoyable vehicle.
There will be no plans now to turbo her as even if I managed to double the power output that would only just match the Gtvi engine in stock form. So then you think well I’ll swap the engine over. But then with the price these cars go for it is better off to just sit and wait for a clean Gtvi to come up. At least then I might get power windows and locks.

After I realised all the above the choice has been made to keep the engine stock and give her a darn good major service. All oils, filters, plugs, leads, timing belt and anything else that I can replace.

But Wait . . . hang on a minute! where is my exhaust?!

While that is going to need fixing. Will have to bust out the mig and make a full mandrel bend cat back system I think. Any suggestions on what size pipe?

It appears this car was used for lugging heavy items as there is some sort of home made rubber mat in the boot and the rear shocks have had it. My brother-in-law and I just about hopped it over a meter it got that much bounce.

So the plan this far is:
Service the car.
Tint the car. (already in the post)
Install audio gear that I have lying around.
Replace all Shocks and Springs
Install 15" rims with 195/50/15 rubber
Replace exhaust system.

Future plans:
Pull out interior and put dynomat everywhere. (its as rattly as a wind chime in a tornado)
Modify seat the sit lower in the car.
Find/make custom headers.
And anything else I can think of.

I cant wait to get stuck into this car, I know its going to be a lot of fun.

P.S. Sorry bout the murky pics, my phone is really bad at the moment.

[Mr_Gormsby]

Really nice looking Sirion. Well done.

I went 1 7/8". That’s with some intake mods and my own custom headers. It’s a big system for a na 997cc.

[Oropi_dai]

That’s a good size thank you. I was reading up on how you extended the intake pipe with above pvc and the like. I might give that a go in the future as it cracks me up how the stock system just stops and sucks hot air from the top of the engine.

[Oropi_dai]

Started on the servicing tonight.
I am stocked about how clean it is under the bonnet, once you see past all the dust I put on there from the speedway track.

Oh yea so where I live there use to be close to 5000 people living here in the 80s due to the mining boom at the time (now we are lucky if there is 200) and well I guess a lot of them liked to race stocks. Its a small oval but enough to reach 100kph on the straight if you are brave. Next time I’m out there with a mate we’ll take a few photos and video.

Back to the car. First I started with the obvious, engine oil. This is what I found awaiting me under the cap.

My heart sunk, I had that horrible felling of buying a lemon. Seeing this in the cap warranted further investigation so I started to pull the valve cover off.

It didn’t look to bad in here, gunky but no more signs of water where it shouldn’t be. It was clear that the previous owner had definitely neglected any servicing.

Of course if you guys see something in these photos I may have missed please let me know.
I’m just hoping it was a over zealous groomer at the dealer with a high pressure cleaner putting water in bad places.

I ran a engine flush though and dropped the oil. New 10w50 oil with matching filter, done. On to the next item, Spark plugs.
Easy enough to take the old ones out and replace with new NGK-Rs. Old ones came out clean and dry with white tips.

Finished it all off with a Coolant flush and now shes purring along beautifully. Runs a bit smother and quieter also. couldn’t replace the gearbox oil sadly as I can’t find my big oil syringe, so will have to leave that for now.
Over all I’m still really happy with the car and will have to keep an eye out for any more symptoms of the water/oil mix, odd thing is it holds operational temp real nice in the middle. If you guys have any ideas again let me know.

[Mick]

I see a lot of cars here in Germany with a bit of milky residue under the oil cap. It seems pretty common in cooler climates especially when the car is starting and stopping often and only driving short distances, you get some condensation in the valve cover. When I first came to Germany I was freaking out thinking every second car I worked on had a blown head gasket, but only because I used to live in Darwin and in that kind of climate when you saw the iced coffee under the cap it was almost certain the car had done a head gasket.
The car looks good man, and yeah you can definitely make some good improvements with an intake and exhaust quite easily, just don’t get tempted to go too big otherwise you’ll end up worse off than with a standard setup.

[Les_Reeves]

Welcome to the Sirion club I have one on my front lawn going through a similar process & I have one at my local dismantler almost complete if you have trouble getting parts let me know I won’t charge very much as I got the car cheap (the owner of the dismantlers is a good mate looks after me) you would have to pay freight.The interior is in really good condition ,thin some older people must have owned it before.

[Oropi_dai]

Hay all I’m on holiday in nz for two weeks so there won’t be any progress for a while. But I won an auction last night for some new rims and tyres and had to show some one as I’m real excited (the wife just sees spinning round things lol). A used set of genuine SSR 256 in a size 15x6.5 +34, they are meant to be quiet light. But as they are in a Japan it will be six weeks till they get here. Can’t wait.

[Oropi_dai]

Thanks mate I’ll keep that in mind. My sirion is pretty clean so no need for parts yet. But I’m sure there will be soon lol

[Oropi_dai]

I’m back home after a wonderful holiday/honeymoon. I highly recommend the south Island of NZ to anyone it is so beautiful and full of all sorts of imports including a lot of dai’s.

The first thing I did after getting home was run to the post office to see what parts await. It was like Christmas but better!
Waiting for me was a new air filter, fuel filter and 7m of 35% window tints.

First up was the air filter as its nice and easy, old one was pretty black and it accelerates a lot smoother now with a clean filter.

This has got to be one of the oddest fuel filters I have seen. Guessing I have to pull the pump out of the tank to replace the filter? Is it worth replacing the pump while I’m there? Any experience there is greatly appreciated.

I got the dark tints as I live in the dessert and well summer is hot, last year we got up to 50 decrees so really want to block out as much sun as possibles having no air con in this car. I also have to redo the tints on my sisters car hence why i got so much.

And lastly I had to chance the gear knob to something a bit nicer. (its for the kids ) It actually has a really nice feel to it and it the perfect size for my hand, so it will be staying with me for a long time even if the car doesn’t.

[Oropi_dai]

Hay I have a question for everyone. How does one remove the windows from the rear doors of the sirion? I am having no luck at all. @Mr_Gormsby @b_hoves any ideas?

[Mr_Gormsby]

Not sure on that one. You might get to pioneer this yourself. Have never had to remove one.

[Oropi_dai]

Yea I was afraid of that. I will be sure to post how I did it when I figure it out.

[Oropi_dai]

Hay les, turns out I do need some parts. Do you have a left front seat belt lying around?

[Les_Reeves]

Yeah mate I’ll just have to go to the dismantlers to get it & go to the post office to find out the freight charge , just send me your address you can have the part no charge. I’m in the northern rivers area of NSW.

[Oropi_dai]

Aw mate you legend, I’ll private message you my details.

[Oropi_dai]

OH Yeah! small victory for me.

I have figured out how to remove the rear windows of a sirion without an angle grinder. (it was close, almost plugged it in.) Turns out there is a small bolt that holds the outer track in place. Remove the bolt, wriggle the track out, turn the window towards the outside of the door and hay pressdo!
More then happy to give someone a more detailed explanation and photos if they ask.

So with all the windows out of the car I got my son to help me apply new tints this afternoon, much easier with two people and hopefully he learnt a thing or two.

By tomorrow the glue should be dry and I will go about putting all the windows back in.

[Oropi_dai]

Man it is pure agony waiting for parts to arrive where I live it’s killing me!

[Oropi_dai]

So after waiting a week past the expected delivery date of my suspension components I got ahold of the supplier to see what was taking so long. Turns out my springs are being custom made just for me lol. They won’t be ready till the 29th they reckon. It’s looking like a lot of this build will be happening around the same time in late October as I’m off to Bathurst and then I have to go under the knife when I get back. Looks like a busy month ahead.

[Oropi_dai]

In the mean time I have replaced the passenger seatbelt that refused to retract with one kindly supplied by @Les_Reeves. New ( secondhand) one is in and after a quick clean it’s working a treat. Just another reminder of how great it is to be part of a like minded and friendly community like we have here.

[Les_Reeves]

Good to hear many happy k’s motoring & I’ll be here if you need anything else if it’s on the donor car.